Comments on: A preview inside my tiny house

By: a_bayer

a_bayer — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:22:52 +0000

about the foam covering- in a small trailer forum i read, others were using a fabric covering over foam using a mix of titebond II glue thinned with water. I think they were using large drop cloths that they ironed to remove wrinkles, and carefully applied after brushing the glue on the foam. after a couple coats of glue, and total drying, they painted the walls with latex paint. don’t know how much the materials cost but thought I’d pass the idea along.

By: leilani

leilani — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:31:05 +0000

hi, tinyhouse! just found your website this evening, I’m checking out your mini-trailer reno & have a suggestion for your walls if you haven’t finished them yet. Have you considered fiberglass textile wallcovering? It goes up like wallpaper, is very durable & comes in many textures & colors. Paintable, washable, fire retardant & doesn’t take up space. More popular in Europe for residential apps, but it’s widely used commercially here in the US. A (possibly) more economic route would be just to put up wallpaper liner. That’s the stuff people put up before hanging wallpaper if their walls are uneven (panelling) or rough (stucco). Might not be as durable, though left unfinished. Love the site – hope to finish reading it tonight. Good luck! – L.
PS) here’s a link or 2 on that fiberglass stuff :
http://fiberglass8.googlepages.com/fiberglasswallcovering
http://www.roosintl.com/glass_textile_wallcovering/index.htm

By: Making a Tiny House Using a Fiberglass Trailer | Small Living Journal

Making a Tiny House Using a Fiberglass Trailer | Small Living Journal — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:14:23 +0000

[...] can read here to get a glimpse of all the options we explored, and find out next week what we finally ended up [...]

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:53:43 +0000

Thanks! I love those neat decorating ideas. I’ve actually seriously considered doing some kind of illusion illustration, but obviously way beyond my skill level. But before the fake walls… before I can even think about all those possibilities… I’ve got to get some real walls up!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:56:03 +0000

Love your website. I’ve been following since last year. I really like the idea of having the open storage under the megabenches.

I have two ideas for your wall finishes. They are both kind of out there so please keep that in mind.
1) Take a look at this picture of a man in a digital camouflaged uniform laying on a sofa. http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-06/camouflage-couch.jpg.
Now my idea. If you finished the walls with something that has an indistinct pattern and also put a fabric on the benches (maybe just on the pads) the wall and the benches would disappear into each other and obscure any indicators that tell the mind where the boundaries of the interior are. This would trick the eye into thinking that the space is actually bigger than it actually is.
2) Take a look at this picture: http://www.illusionking.com/illusions/astonishing-3d-wall-painting-illusion-1.jpg
Maybe you can hire a local artist to paint the inside.

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:55:37 +0000

Hi Andy, The blankets are a neat idea, and similar to my very first idea, before it started to get complicated…

NOW… having had my step-dad’s official consultation, I’m leaning towards a door-skin like wood finish (that can be painted). He convinced me that it would be easy to cut out vertical strips and glue wood to the original fiberglass at several points, thereby giving something for the door-skin ply to really attach to. This makes a lot of sense in many ways. Now we just need to befriend someone in San Diego who has some basic woodworking tools… anyone?

By: andy p

andy p — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:34:57 +0000

Dear tiny house trailer folks,
I expect you are done with the insulation by now, but the spray foam would stick the trailer to the side of a cliff, but it may not hold foam to foil. Try an experiment?
For a finish, there are plenty of beautiful old blankets to be had at thrift shops and from friends with too many blankets. It would be nice to see my old loved (but small) blanket from Guadalahara would get a second life. Maybe they could get hemmed to cord, that got attached at several levels?
Yurts in Mongolia may have 6′ of felt lining them.
A great adventure.

By: thistinyhouse

thistinyhouse — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:46:19 +0000

Thanks Karen & Joe, I’ve been getting the thumbs down on spray foam in the FiberglassRV forum as well. Glad we got that straightened out! Hm, soda bottle labels? I’ll think about interesting recycled materials for the walls… Thanks!

Jen, we should get together sometime and have a play date for our Compact Juniors! It sounds like we have similar problems.

In terms of storage while driving, Mike and I have a system down. We “pack” and “unpack” the trailer for road travel. Basically we shove the cooler and all the bedding in the middle aisle, and that seems to keep everything in place.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:57:11 +0000

Wow…it’ll be interesting to see what the inside looks like once you’ve loaded it in the “flexible storage” area and driven down the road. Mine bounces like a sonofagun. You may want to consider installing some cargo nets to at least keep your load under the new megabenches.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:54:48 +0000

I’m so glad you posted this. I have a 1970-72 (depends who you ask) Compact Junior which has served us well. It came with the silver insulation and I’m SO glad I didn’t go with my gut instinct and rip it out! It really works! However, it’s ugly as sin, and it rips when the girls and I are careless in our loading and unloading. I was considering some thin doorskin wood paneling, but the insulation probably wouldn’t be able to hold the weight. I’m looking at other options now (including “rat fur” though the $550 estimate at the local upholstery place didn’t exactly thrill me).

For yours, since you have the foam board up already, what about using ConTact paper?